As long-time readers will know, I'm an ardent opponent of college football preseason rankings. What may be even more ridiculous is seeing NFL preseason rankings, especially those primarily based on teams' preseason performances.
Yeah, based on preseason records, we could possibly see the Cleveland Browns square off against the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl, or the Geno Smith-led New York Jets against the Washington Redskins, who were without starting quarterback Robert Griffin III for all four preseason games, yet won them all.
That brings me to Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports, who just released his NFL power rankings before any team has played a regular season game.
Here are some of Schwab's rankings and observations:
22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: "And still, after four preseason games, the Buccaneers remain the toughest team to predict in the NFL."
After four preseason games of playing 2nd- and 3rd-stringers more than starters, just about every team is unpredictable if we largely base these predictions on the preseason games.
16. Detroit Lions: "The win against the Patriots showed what Detroit can do at its best. But Matthew Stafford showed some serious warning signs in August."
At their best? Their first-team offense scored 16 points on the Pats' first-team defense. Their second- and third-stringers, though, were something else!
14. Indianapolis Colts: "Andrew Luck might be an MVP candidate this year. If he is, it's because T.Y. Hilton played as well as he did in the preseason."
Luck should improve a great deal in his second season with the team, but let's calm down on the MVP talk. After all, last year Luck finished: 31st in completion percentage (54.1), 17th in yards per attempt (6.98), 3rd in interceptions (18), 4th in sacks (41), and 26th in quarterback rating (76.5).
11. Carolina Panthers: "Cam Newton always struggles in the preseason. The difference is, the Panthers' defense doesn't always look as dominant as it did this August."
So, it's all about preseason production for 99% of the guys, but Cam Newton gets a pass, eh? I see.
5. Houston Texans: "Arian Foster's issues seem to have been overblown, Brian Cushing is back, DeAndre Hopkins is legit .. yet nobody is talking about the Texans."
I believe you just did...
4. Cincinnati Bengals: "If anything, seeing Giovani Bernard look like he belongs in the NFL solidifies them as an AFC dark horse."
I'm sorry, but Cincinnati at #4?
3. New England Patriots: "You worry about how they looked in that third preseason game against Detroit, I'll remember how perfect they were the week before against Tampa Bay."
Tampa Bay? You mean, the most unpredictable team in football? Losing Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, Brandon Lloyd, and Danny Woodhead won't have any effect on the team's offensive production? With Rob Gronkowski battling more injuries than groupies battle STDs?
1. Seattle Seahawks: "It's just the preseason, but their demolition of the Broncos' starters in Week 2 was a real eye-opener."
The real eye-opener was reading these power rankings. Mr. Schwab should have titled his piece, "It's just the preseason" and stopped right there.
In any case, the regular season officially starts tomorrow and I can't wait!
"Are you ready for some football?"
Hell yeah!
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nfl-preview-week-shutdown-corner-pre-regular-season-131607988--nfl.html
http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/quarterbackRating
Yeah, based on preseason records, we could possibly see the Cleveland Browns square off against the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl, or the Geno Smith-led New York Jets against the Washington Redskins, who were without starting quarterback Robert Griffin III for all four preseason games, yet won them all.
That brings me to Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports, who just released his NFL power rankings before any team has played a regular season game.
Here are some of Schwab's rankings and observations:
22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: "And still, after four preseason games, the Buccaneers remain the toughest team to predict in the NFL."
After four preseason games of playing 2nd- and 3rd-stringers more than starters, just about every team is unpredictable if we largely base these predictions on the preseason games.
16. Detroit Lions: "The win against the Patriots showed what Detroit can do at its best. But Matthew Stafford showed some serious warning signs in August."
At their best? Their first-team offense scored 16 points on the Pats' first-team defense. Their second- and third-stringers, though, were something else!
14. Indianapolis Colts: "Andrew Luck might be an MVP candidate this year. If he is, it's because T.Y. Hilton played as well as he did in the preseason."
Luck should improve a great deal in his second season with the team, but let's calm down on the MVP talk. After all, last year Luck finished: 31st in completion percentage (54.1), 17th in yards per attempt (6.98), 3rd in interceptions (18), 4th in sacks (41), and 26th in quarterback rating (76.5).
11. Carolina Panthers: "Cam Newton always struggles in the preseason. The difference is, the Panthers' defense doesn't always look as dominant as it did this August."
So, it's all about preseason production for 99% of the guys, but Cam Newton gets a pass, eh? I see.
5. Houston Texans: "Arian Foster's issues seem to have been overblown, Brian Cushing is back, DeAndre Hopkins is legit .. yet nobody is talking about the Texans."
I believe you just did...
4. Cincinnati Bengals: "If anything, seeing Giovani Bernard look like he belongs in the NFL solidifies them as an AFC dark horse."
I'm sorry, but Cincinnati at #4?
3. New England Patriots: "You worry about how they looked in that third preseason game against Detroit, I'll remember how perfect they were the week before against Tampa Bay."
Tampa Bay? You mean, the most unpredictable team in football? Losing Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, Brandon Lloyd, and Danny Woodhead won't have any effect on the team's offensive production? With Rob Gronkowski battling more injuries than groupies battle STDs?
1. Seattle Seahawks: "It's just the preseason, but their demolition of the Broncos' starters in Week 2 was a real eye-opener."
The real eye-opener was reading these power rankings. Mr. Schwab should have titled his piece, "It's just the preseason" and stopped right there.
In any case, the regular season officially starts tomorrow and I can't wait!
"Are you ready for some football?"
Hell yeah!
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/nfl-preview-week-shutdown-corner-pre-regular-season-131607988--nfl.html
http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/quarterbackRating
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